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Make your voice heard By MARY JANE HOLT In a recent column, news commentator and talk show host Bill O'Reilly spoke of how, in the 1930s, millions of people simply did not want to think about the evil Hitler was brewing up. He pointed out that France and Russia were the chief appeasers, as they are today on the Iraq question. He went on to note that Pope John Paul II has said that any war against Iraq would be "immoral." Then he pointed out how, back in the '30s, Pope Pius XII actually supported Hitler politically, at least in the beginning of his rise when Pius was stationed in Germany. Most of us would agree with O'Reilly that "peace should be the goal of all civilized human beings." He accurately points out that millions of Americans are against a war in Iraq today, just as millions of us were vehemently opposed to confronting Hitler as well. This outspoken columnist reminds us that the anti-war movement of the 30s was led by Charles Lindbergh and Ambassador Joseph Kennedy, who largely dismissed accusations of Nazi brutality and weapons production as propaganda. Then, sadly, he reminds us that the failure to confront the obvious evil of the Nazis early led to the deaths of more than 55,000,000 human beings in Europe. O'Reilly asks, "Does anyone today believe that Al Qaeda or Saddam would not slaughter Jews and, indeed, Americans, if they had the power to do so? So what is the difference between a dictator like Saddam and Adolf Hitler?" He continues: "It continues to astound me that 37 percent of Americans, according to the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, do not support the removal of Saddam Hussein unless other countries, which do not share our danger, sign on." I am aware that I have quoted very liberally from Bill O'Reilly's column. If I could have said it better in my own words, I would have. Now I ask, where do you stand? Are you making yourself heard? On any given day, AOL, MSNBC, CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX and the list goes on ... present us with various polls. Over and over, that ask us what we think about this and that. I'm not sure anybody in the media really cares what I think. Maybe they just want to be use my communication to open the door for marketing opportunities or to feed the ever-rising flame of controversy that prevails across our nation and around the world just now. Yet, I do want it to be known that I have an opinion and I want my opinion to count. For instance, I absolutely refuse to believe that 37 percent might of Americans do not support the removal of Saddam Hussein unless other countries, which do not share our danger, sign on. Please, somebody tell me we are smarter that that! I can believe that 37 percent of Americans do not support the removal of Saddam Hussein. Apathy is a big deal in America. You leave me alone and I'll leave you alone. Right? But are we apathetic, spineless cowards as well? I just can't believe that there is a prevailing attitude of "I will, if he will." Now, that scares me! If you have comments/opinions that you would like to share, call the National Contact Center at 1-800-FED-INFO. Each year the staff there handles millions of calls from citizens trying to find out who to contact about issues of importance to them. Or write directly to President George W. Bush at: The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 You can call or fax the White House as well. Address comments to: 202-456-1111. The actual switchboard number is 202-456-1414. To send a fax dial: 202-456-2461. You can e-mail President Bush at: president@whitehouse.gov Speak up. Speak out. Be heard. Like O'Reilly said, "If France, German, China and Russia would support the United States against Saddam, he'd already be out of power. If France, Russia and Britain had marched into Germany in 1933, there would have been no World War or Holocaust." Many of us have wondered why "somebody" didn't do something sooner back in the 1930s. We would be wise to remember that we are somebody and history often repeats itself.
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